15 Jamaican Great Houses

15 Jamaican Great Houses

Bellevue Great House

Bellevue Great House is situated in the parish of St Ann. Archaeological evidence points to the fact that it is situated on an extensive Taino site. In fact, there are two such sites on the property. The only gold artifact ever found in Jamaica was unearthed there in 1982 - a gold disc dated AD 600-800, which was probably used as an eye or earplug for the Taino Zemis, religious/ceremonial gods. The artifact is now housed by the Facey family. Read more...

Bloomfield Great House

Bloomfield Great House is situated on the former Bloomfield Estate. It precedes the formation of the parish of Manchester. In fact, the Mandeville Square now stands on land donated by four estates, one of which was Bloomfield. The property passed through many phases of development being operated in the past as a coffee plantation, a citrus plantation, a cattle rearing farm and a dairy. Read more...

Cherry Garden Great House

The Cherry Garden property was originally a sugar estate. Colonel Ezekiel Gomersall was the first owner. After his death, the property was passed into the hands of his second wife and nephew, Ezekiel Dickinson. After emancipation, the property was administered by Joseph Gordon, who came to Jamaica from Scotland as an attorney for a number of absentee owned sugar estates and later purchased several of them. He was the father of George William Gordon, National Hero of Jamaica. Read more...

Good Hope Great House

Good Hope Estate was formed through a land grant, given to Colonel Thomas Williams. The estate, consisting of 1,000 acres, bordering the Martha Brae river, is situated in the parish of Trelawny. Colonel Williams was the grandson of one of the first settlers in the island after its conquest by the English. The estate later became the property of John Tharp, who became the largest land and slave owner in Jamaica. Read more...

Green Park Great House

Green Park Great House was originally called Green Pond by its first owner George Sinclair of St Ann, who acquired the property around 1740. The name Green Pond was derived from a small pond on the property, which was located near the house. The once stately great house is now in ruins. Read more...

Greenwood Great House

Greenwood Great House located in the parish of St. James, on Jamaica's North Coast, is a fine example of late eighteenth century Great House construction in Jamaica. Both Greenwood and Barrett Hall, a couple miles up the hill behind it, once belonged to Richard Barrett, a leading planter in the island who was once Speaker of the Assembly and Custos of the parish of St. James. Read more...

Halse Hall Great House

When the English captured Jamaica in 1655, it was the custom to give officers of the army land grants. Halse Hall was given to Major Thomas Halse. On the site, Halse raised hogs, grazed cattle and built a house of thick walls. The house served as the centre of his estate and a rallying point for defence. When Halse died in 1702, the great house was still a single storey building. Read more...

Liberty Hill Great House

Liberty Hill Plantation was first listed in the Crop Accounts in 1786 as a pimento plantation. The plantation house and pimento barbeques have survived that era and can still be seen on the site. In 1802, the plantation continued to cultivate pimento, but the records indicate that there was also the cultivation of coffee. Read more...

Marlborough House

Marlborough House is said to have been built in 1795 and designed by a Scottish architect named Forsyth. The house is a finely proportioned Georgian residence with regency influences. A significant feature of the building is its high and imposing portico, which raises its large columns to the roof. The gutting of the roof is made of fine copper. Read more...

Prospect Great House

The early-18th century Prospect Great House has two storeys and possesses some Palladian features. The ground floor is fortified with 28 loopholes that were designed to protect it against marauding pirates and buccaneers. A mahogany tree in front of the house commemorates the three-week stay of Sir Winston Churchill and his family in 1952. Read more...

Rose Hall Great House

Rose Hall Great House was built in the mid-19th century by George Ash for John Palmer, Custos of St Thomas for £30,000. The great house, which is of Georgian architecture, is built of cut stone on the first two levels and stucco on the third and uppermost level. The main approach to the second level of the building consists of a cut stone symmetrical grand staircase which leads to a veranda on the seaward side of the building. Read more...

Seville Great House

Seville Great House is symbolic of the English colonial period. After the capture of the island in 1655, New Seville was abandoned by the Spaniards. The English divided up and allotted the land to victorious officers and other soldiers. In this allotment, the city of New Seville became the property of one Captain Hemmings, an officer of the army, thus becoming Seville Estate. 1745, Hemmings’ grandson built the great house on the site of the original house which was built at the end of the 17th century. Read more...

Stokes Hall Great House

Stokes Hall Great House, located in the parish of St Thomas, was built by Luke Stokes, a former governor of the island of Nevis. He came to Jamaica shortly after the conquest of the island by the British. Like many of the early houses it was built in a strategic location and was securely fortified. Read more...

Thetford Great House

Colonel Thomas Fuller received the Thetford property as a reward for his role in the 1655 capture of Jamaica by the British. He and his wife Catherine later gave 30 acres of the land from the estate for the construction of the St Dorothy's Church. The property is now being used for the FarmVille Jamaica Live, a social farming club. Read more...

Tryall Great House

The Tryall Estate is on the main road between Hopewell and Sandy Bay, Hanover, just bordering the golf course there. It has been maintained as an attraction with a golf course, tennis and beach club. It is the home of the International Johnny Walker Golf Tournament. Read more...